Carles Puigdemont returns to Catalonia for first time since 2017

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has returned to Catalonia on Thursday morning ahead of the investiture debate of Socialist presidency candidate, Salvador Illa.

However, as he is still wanted by authorities over charges of misuse of public funds for organizing the independence referendum, it's expected that Puigdemont will be arrested. 

On Thursday morning, he spoke at a welcome reception in Barcelona ahead of the presidential investiture debate in parliament.

"In spite of their best attempts, in spite of how much harm they wanted to do us, despite how much of their repressive faces we have seen, today I have come here to remind them that we’re still here. We’re still here. We’re still here because we don’t have the right to stop," Puigdemont said during his five-minute speech.

Following a short speech, he then got off stage as it was expected for him to walk towards the Catalan parliament, located a short walk away from where he was speaking, accompanied by hundreds of pro-independence supporters and fellow party members. But, he did not walk with his supporters.

Junts had already said that if Puigdemont was arrested, they would call for the debate to be suspended, however, the investiture debate got underway as scheduled without Puigdemont in attendance, with the former president's whereabouts not known.

Operació Gàbia activated, again

To find him, Catalan police had activated 'operació Gàbia', a special deployment used in the past during terrorist incidents such as that of 2017, whereby they close down the area in search of someone they aim to arrest. 

An operation that was later de-activated before 2 pm, and after lunch, re-activated, as Mossos d'Esquadra said the operation had been de-activated temporarily for "operational purposes."

Mossos had been accused of reaching a deal with Puigdemont to let him speak in Barcelona, but law enforcement agents said that "there was no deal."

During the morning, Mossos d'Esquadra had arrested a law enforcement agent for allegedly collaborating with Puigdemont to flee Barcelona city center in a white car. Mossos arrested the owner of such vehicle, which turned out to be an agent from the same body.

In the afternoon, around 6:30 pm, news broke on several media outlets announcing the detention of a second Mossos d'Esquadra police agent because of his involvment in the escape of Puigdemont.

The Catalan parliament is located inside the Ciutadella park in Barcelona, which has been placed on lockdown by police forces waiting to detain the former president.

It is the first time that Puigdemont steps foot in Catalonia since leaving to go into exile in 2017, in the aftermath of the independence referendum deemed illegal by Spain held under his leadership.

His party, Junts, organized a welcome reception for the former president at 9 am, one hour ahead of the presidential investiture debate in the Catalan parliament.

Since early in the morning, thousands of pro-independence supporters have gathered to welcome the former Catalan president at Barcelona's Arc de Triomf, a short walk from the chamber.

The crowd brought scores of pro-independence flags and chanted slogans such as 'Puigdemont president'. 

Local police said around 3,500 people attended such event, while organizers say there were 10,500 people in the event.

Some 300 mayors from around Catalonia, as well as former MPs and ministers from Puigdemont's party and other pro-independence groups, were also in attendance.

Meanwhile, at the front doors of the Parc de la Ciutadella, dozens of far-right Vox supporters planned a protest against Puigdemont.

"We have been part of a show, a democratic anomaly," Ignacio Garriga, Vox spokesperson, said before entering the parliament.

"We have seen a fugitive that organized a coup d'etat and misuse public funds organizing an event with total impunity," he added.

The Supreme Court still has an arrest warrant in place for Puigdemont for charges of misuse of public funds, stemming from the 2017 independence referendum that was outlawed by Spanish courts, and through the morning it was widely expected that the former president could have been detained.

The Supreme Court deemed that this alleged crime was not covered by the recently ratified amnesty law, benefitting those who have sought independence for Catalonia in recent years.

Socialist candidate's presidential bid

Puigdemont affirmed ahead of May’s Catalan election that he would attend the investiture debate for the next Catalan president in person, regardless if he was the candidate going for office or if it were someone else.

After his party finished second in the election without options to form a majority, the Socialists gathered the support of left-wing Comuns Sumar and pro-independence Esquerra Republicana to name their candidate, Salvador Illa, president with the narrowest of majorities in the chamber.

With the backing of Esquerra's 20 MPs and Comuns' six, the Socialists, with 42 seats in the Catalan chamber, would just have enough support for a majority to name Salvador Illa president. 

ERC's deal with the Socialists to back Illa's presidency includes plans to change the financial model of Catalonia, to let the Catalan government collect and manage 100% of the taxes paid in the territory.

The outgoing Catalan president, Pere Aragonès of ERC, praised that this agreement boosts Catalonia's "sovereignity." 

What happens if Puigdemont is arrested?

If he is arrested, Puigdemont will be held in a court cell, likely in the Ciutat de la Justícia in Barcelona.

The judge on duty will communicate the arrest to the Supreme Court. Pablo Llarena, the Supreme Court judge who has issued the arrest warrant for Puigdemont, could take his statement by video conference, summon him for another day, or have him transferred immediately to Madrid, which will be the most likely scenario.

Once in Madrid, Puigdemont can be provisionally released or sent to prison as a preventive measure due to flight risk.

In the event of arrest and imprisonment, Puigdemont's defense may submit a request for habeas corpus to the court, a legal recourse whereby the detained requests clarification from the magistrates over whether their detention was lawful or unlawful. 

If the request is rejected, which is the most likely scenario, an appeal could be presented to the Constitutional Court, so that a judge there will give an urgent provisional ruling on the possible application of the amnesty law to Puigdemont.

The amnesty law for figures seeking independence for Catalonia came into effect in June of this year, but the law needs to be applied case by case by the judge overseeing each one.

In Puigdemont's case, the Supreme Court views that the amnesty law does not apply to the charge of misuse of public funds for holding the referendum.